Survivor Cooking Basics Workshop

Ready to jump into the kitchen and cook delicious and healthy homemade meals? This cooking class in Oakland, will teach you the basics and leave you prepared to take on the kitchen!

In this cooking class, You will prepare a simple and nutritious menu while learning tips and tricks that can be applied to any home-cooked meal. This class will discuss some of the reasons people give up cooking at home: not enough time, food going to waste, and recipes that list twenty ingredients.

We’ll then offer ideas and solutions to use in your kitchen and will show you how to plan simple and easy meals to fit your schedule. You will learn how to handle a knife, which knife to use, the most useful kitchen tools, basic spices, and cooking methods for your stovetop and oven. We’ll cover choosing the right cuts of meat, fish, and chicken, as well as buying just the right amount so your serving portions are satisfying, healthy, and inexpensive.

Whether you're looking for ways to eat healthier this year or you want to learn basic cooking skills to impress your family and friends, this cooking class will set you on the right path. Cooking can also be a fulfilling hobby, and you might even discover a new passion after this workshop. This class is also great if you are looking to get a sneak peek at what our 12-Week Basics of Cooking Series is like.

Menu

• Rice, Kale & Lemon Soup
• Braised Bok Choy & Brussels Sprouts
• Cilantro Rice Pilaf
• Herb New Potatoes
• Roasted White Fish Filet
• Pan-Seared Chicken

Each class will begin with a lecture from the chef about the day’s theme and recipes. After this introduction, your group will break up into smaller teams and start working on the recipes in the class menu. A snack will be served at the beginning of class, and you will be eating the dishes you make at the end of class. You are welcome to eat as much as you’d like in class, though unfortunately, our zoning permit does not allow us to have students take food home.

Health, safety, and allergies:

• Masks are optional
• COVID protocols are subject to change to reflect local and state mandates.
• Please take a look at the class menu. If you think you might be allergic to anything on the menu, please indicate it on your class registration, and if you have a concern, get in touch with Kitchen on Fire, and we can double-check the ingredient list.

Chef's Bio
One of the East Bay’s popular culinary personalities, Chef Olive Said, is the founder of Kitchen on Fire cooking school, located in the heart of Berkeley’s culinary district in North Berkeley. Chef Olive has been part of the Berkeley culinary neighborhood for over 20 years, first as one of the original owners in Cesar Tapas Bar and then moving on to open the cooking school in 2005. The cooking school was a place to share his passions of good food, nutrition, and community through teaching students of all ages and backgrounds in a warm and inviting environment.

Born and raised in France, Chef Olive is the descendant of at least five generations of restaurateurs dating back to the early 1750s in France. He began his career at the age of 15 in his mother’s Paris restaurant. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and worked at Ken Frank’s La Toque, one of the first restaurants in the country to feature California nouvelle cuisine. In 1987, he returned to Paris and opened his own restaurant, the very popular Texas Coyote. Soon after his return to the states, he rooted himself in the Berkeley culinary world.

All levels welcome!
  Hands-on lessons, take-home recipes, and dinner at the end of class.
 

• Close-toed shoes are mandatory. High heels, open-toed shoes, sandals, flip-flops are NOT allowed in the kitchen.
• Shoulder-length hair or longer needs to be worn back and away from your face; we have plenty of hair ties in the kitchen for you to use and keep.
• Feel free to bring a favorite apron or a knife you want to practice with, but know that we will supply aprons and all the tools you need for use during class.

We wholeheartedly invite class participants (who are 21 and older) to bring any wine or beer they would like to enjoy during class for personal consumption. Kitchen on Fire employees cannot open or serve beverages you bring into the kitchen. We cannot sell or distribute alcohol, and we uphold ABC regulations. No minor can drink, and we cannot have intoxicated students attending a class.